The world of concert photography is a glorious mixture of the love of photography and music, bringing together the wonderful experience of live concerts with the opportunity to capture your favourite bands with pictures. The problem comes when you decide that you want your passion for concert photography to become a legitimate income steam. With so many concert photographers wanting to shoot the same artists and most of the guys in the pit offering their services for free, musicians have the power to pick and choose which shots they want, not to mention whether or not they want to pay you. The other problem which can be very frustrating is if you simply have a passion for concert photography, but have no idea how to get further and move from the crowd to the pit & beyond

Surfing the internet for answers to this brings up a few results, but by and large the results are not comprehensive enough to move you in the right direction. Enter the “Shooting The Rockstars” video course by concert photographer and trainer Matthias Hombauer. The course has been designed to take you from Zero to Hero in 5 short weeks, with each module being released week by week, but is it really worth the investment?

Anyone Can Be A Concert Photographer

As we went through the course it dawned on us that Matthias has designed this program to be a very comprehensive yet easy to stand overview of the entire industry. The course begins with the basics, teaching photographers how to begin to get into the world of concert photography. Matthias insists that nobody needs to have experience or a background in photography to get started and shows the basics, from camera equipment to the right camera settings that you should be able to use to get out there and start shooting straight away, but the information around the right mind-set to have as a concert photographer and how to get started on even the leanest budget is the information that we found the most useful.

How To Get Press Accreditation

As you move into module 2 things are taken up a gear, with Matthias explaining the first stage of what probably frustrates most photographers: Press accreditation!

Knowing how to get accreditation and how to receive permission to shoot can be very off putting when you don’t know where to start and this can sometimes lead to photographers giving up at the first hurdle. Let’s face it, shooting from the pit is where the great opportunities lie and this is where you need to be if you want to be able to capture great shots of your favorite artists.

Once you get in the pit however, how do you make sure your pictures are head and shoulders above all the other photographers in the pit? The basics of composition are discussed showing some of the key lenses required to get different kind of shots as well as the must have pictures you need to be capturing for every band you shoot!

The AAA Photo Pass

The seasoned photographer reading this review may be thinking so far that this course is only for beginners, but you would be wrong. As the course progresses Matthias begins to discuss the higher levels of this industry; the holy grail of concert photography: The AAA Photo pass.

By following the steps in this course you would currently be sitting in week 3, with each module adding to the last in terms of useful information. Aside from showing photographers how they can move towards acquiring an Access All Areas pass, things go deeper than this, showing how you can move towards reaching the stage that most photographers can only dream of, a chance to shoot both on stage and potentially backstage long after your fellow photographers have left the pit.

Winning the trust of the band coupled with your interpersonal and professional skills become crucially important here and Matthias delves into some of the key ways to succeed and reach this far in your career

Showcase Your Work To The Biggest Audience

All of your progress counts for nothing if you are unaware of the very best places to showcase your work and ensure that it reaches the biggest possible audience which can include clients who could book you for future work.

Matthias doesn’t fail to disappoint here either, going into detail with regards to the very best platforms that you should be using to reach the biggest audience. After all, any concert photographer looking to move to the next level needs to promote and gather feedback on their best work so that they can reach new musicians, magazines and any other medium that can provide you with additional exposure.

Social media can sometimes be a time consuming process, so knowing how to automate this as much as possible leaves you with more time to shoot and get better at the art of concert photography.

The Business of Music Photography

In the final stages of this course, the deeper anatomy of the business of concert photography and how this works is discussed in great detail, as Hombauer explains how you can move towards making money for you art. IN an industry where musicians believe that the art of photography is somewhat disposable, having knowledge of how to effectively monetize your craft is crucial if you want to move towards making a legitimate income stream in this field

Conclusion

So what do we think of this course?

The strategies discussed throughout this video course progressively takes you from the beginning stages of getting your first camera, composition and practice all the way to AAA passes and becoming a tour photographer. If you wish to earn money from this profession, this stone is not left unturned either, with Homabuer’s thoughts on the very best strategies to ensure that you get paid for your brilliant work.

The detail of the program is really found in the requirement for you to take notes and come back to specific parts but the fact remains that ultimately moving forward with concert photography is directly in your hands. That being said, we believe that the investment required to get your hands on this course is well worth it, because you would be very hard pressed to find this volume of information in such a comprehensive form anywhere else on the web in such a short space of time.

You could of course decide to learn everything yourself through trial and error, but we believe that it is always best to invest in your career, learn quickly and reach your goals much quicker through a sound investment.

Here are some testimonals from photographer who have already taken this course so far

"My only wish is that I had a video course like this when I was starting out!" - Andreas

"This video course really hit the nail on the head with a lots of awesome information. The course helped my to motivate myself to get up my bum and get out there and take some awesome concert photos - thanks Matthias!" - William

"Shooting The Rockstars by Matthias Hombauer is a must have for all starting and feeling lost in the great world of live music photography - even seasoned shooters will find awesome advice here. Matthias, being a published and successful music photographer and a great guy, knows what he's talking about." - Sasa

"Which equipment to use, how to make it to the photo pit, how to sell your work...whatever the question might be. Matthias will give you the answer. Honestly, if you want to learn how to become a rockstar photographer, this the best video training you will find!!!" - Christoph